Wednesday, July 16, 2008

I think we can all agree that the degree to which Mark Sweeney powered the Dodger offensive has only truly come to light since he went on the DL.

OK, maybe not quite, but as we stand at the symbolic half-way point of the season, I urge you to fully appreciate the enormity of his accomplishments. He is traversing truly rarefied air, perhaps heading to where no man has gone before. Take, for example:

He can follow a 1 for 5 day with an 0 for 5 day and actually raise his batting average (but let's pray he's never given 5 at-bats in a game, much less in two consecutive games).

His batting average (0.094) and slugging % (0.125) are lower than the collective batting average and slugging % of not just pitchers, but of American League pitchers (0.113 and 0.172, respectively).

And my favorite: he has a shot at putting up the worst offensive performance in MLB history (not one of the worst, but the worst). If Sweeney can get just 30 more at-bats this season, and if he stays on his current pace hitting-wise, he will end with the lowest batting average in baseball history for a non-pitcher with at least 94 at-bats. Here's the current leaderboard:

Player

Year

At Bats

Average

Mark Sweeney*

2008

64

0.094

Antonio Perez

2006

98

0.102

Rick Gedman

1991

94

0.106

Ben Egan

1915

120

0.108

Jose Gonzalez

1991

117

0.111

Gus Gil

1967

96

0.115

Tom Egan

1974

94

0.117

Ace Parker

1937

94

0.117

*Sweeney is 30 at-bats short of qualifying

So in a twisted way, I'm rooting for Sweeney to make it back into the lineup for at least 30 more at-bats to get to the magic 94 (94 at-bats and .094 average). His all-time record would go quite well in the Dodger trophy case next to Hideo Nomo's 2004 record for worst ERA in baseball history (8.25) for a player with at least 15 decisions.